Adrian Wait

Hope bleeds gradually Poem by Adrian Wait

So many hidden storiesForgotten and ignoredPoverty absorbs lifeHope bleeds graduallyMake do, and mendSmile and pretendSlowly, graduallyVisible to invisibleWith unchanging smileStranger to selfAnd stranger we denyAs poverty silencesIn coldness we complyIndifference cuts the deepestStatistics used to denyPersonhood and dignityFade, Person to ghostDying is easyIt’s living that’s hardFalse prophets aboundHope bleeds graduallySelling isms by the poundDisengaged they take the cudgelPronounce their humble actsDo we listen to the stories? Do we listen to the facts? Wise in our own eyesObjective in indifferencePassing by on the other sideSo many hidden storiesForgotten and ignoredPoverty absorbs, deniesHidden by statisticsHope bleeds graduallyMake do, and mendSmile and pretendSlowly, graduallyVisible to invisibleChrist knows our storyTell me that it’s trueHe bore it on the CrossWe are not aloneNothing in love is lostI hope that this is trueHope bleeds graduallyWhilst Poverty absorbsChrist knows.